IIRC research shows similar brain activity between reading books and listening to audio books.

But splitting attention is another matter. I listen to podcasts a lot, and often I'll finish an episode and realize I have no idea what happened because I was focused on work.

When it comes to audiobooks, I try not to split my attention because of that. Sometimes I'll listen to the audio book while reading along. For me that seems to improve my speed and focus compared to either one on its own. I'll crank up the audio speed to around 3x, which is too fast when just listening but fine when reading along. And the audio keeps me at a steadier pace than reading alone.

Graphic Audio production level of audiobooks FTW

Yeah, I mean my usage of my phone and social media is over 80% reading. Even listening to audio books is still better than what these kids are getting. Litteraly just settling in to be spoon fed video and images by the algorithms firehose. Little to no reading, or even conscious thought. The concept terrifies me. For them its Tuesday. I even disable autoplay on YouTube because that shit pisses me off. And shorts? Fuck no.

This isn't a social media or a phone/tablet issue realistically. Its all algorithm all the time. Without effort and intention the brain doesn't develop. Just random stream of unremarkable content with barely more thought put into it, than those with their brains switched off watching. Worse, if there accidentally was. Well good luck finding it again. Fucking algorithmic feeds.